Straight to Ale releasing special, once-a-year beer

Straight to Ale Brewing will release its Unobtanium beer, an English old ale, tomorrow. (Contributed photo)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Because Unobtanium is aged for six months inside whiskey
barrels, Straight to Ale Brewing is only able to make the beer available
once a year.

On Dec. 14, STA will
release 22-ounce bottles of this 11.5 percent ABV (alcohol by volume) English old ale, and to celebrate they'll present a 6 p.m. acoustic set from Alex
Dieterich and Drew Bolling of local "purplegrass" group .45 Surprise at the STA
brewery, located at 3200 Leeman Ferry Road. Huntsville food truck No Brakes
Bistro will also be on hand.

I e-mailed Straight to Ale co-founder Dan Perry a few
questions to find out more:

Dan, where does the name Unobtanium come from?

Unobtanium is a term to
refer to a fictional material that is extremely rare, but necessary to complete
a project. Seemed to fit the beer since we knew it would be a once a year
release due to the barrel aging time.

How much does the current Unobtanium recipe differ from the
original you guys homebrewed in a driveway?

Recipe is the same, just on a bigger scale.

Unobtanium is aged in whiskey barrels. How does that impact
the flavor of the beer – besides imparting any whiskey taste?

The barrel aging adds tremendously to the flavor of the
beer. Besides the actual bourbon flavor, you will get vanilla and from the
charred oak barrels. Aging it melds all of the flavors together, making it very
complex in both taste and aroma.

Where do you get the whiskey barrels from? Any idea what
brand of whiskey was previously aged in them?

We have used Buffalo Trace barrels and Maker's Mark
barrels so far.

What makes six months the right amount of time to age
Unobtanium?

Six months is an approximation. We taste the beer throughout
the process and it tells us when it is ready to be removed from the barrels.
Once it's ready, it comes out. So far that has been right around the six month
mark.

How does an English old ale differ from say a brown ale or
other types of common ales?

An English old ale is a bigger beer, maltier, smoother and
more flavorful than a brown. It has a bigger mouthfeel and more alcohol warmth.

How many 22-ounce bottles are in this production run, and
where will people be able to find them at in Huntsville?

We are targeting 350 cases for this run of Unobtanium.
(Twelve 22-ounce bottles are in a case.) I am unsure of who will pick up the
beer from the distributor when it becomes available, but it will be available
in Alabama down to Montgomery, and in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.